


Anomie.

by TayBartlett9000



Category: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams, hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy - douglas adams
Genre: Gen, Loss of Purpose, Lost Soul, Other, Sociological, Uncertainty, anomie, hurt/comfort., lonelyness, normlessness, social role or lack of, society, space travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 09:26:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8484091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TayBartlett9000/pseuds/TayBartlett9000
Summary: On her way to meet her father on Lamuella, Random  contemplates her life  and how lost she is within the galaxy.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For my sociology lecturer, who's social sciences course made me realise my own position within society and helped me put an end to my own period of anomie.

Author’s note: I  came up with the idea for this story while I  was in my sociology class last year. I instantly thought of Random as it does seem to me that she  was lost in a world of anomie. For those who  haven’t come across this particular sociological term,  anomie  means social normlessness. In other words it  is a period of time in which a person has no idea of their place within society.  This period of anomie does tend to happen mostly to teenagers, so Random does indeed seem to be the perfect  candidate. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Anomie.

By Tay Bartlett.

 

Around her, the universe loomed, stretching into the distance further than the mind could comfortably imagine. An endless   casum of infinite opportunity beckoned as her mother’s ship flew further into the heart of those fathomless black depths.

 Random could see  the stars  glittering about her in abundance, illuminating the blackness as her ship flew onwards.  Yet she saw not the magic in it. She saw not the many billions of suns that guarded and   gave life to the  planets close to them. She saw not the  majesty of discovery that so often led to great scientific    exploration. She saw no beauty in her surroundings. She only saw a succession of starlit prison cells waiting to entrap those who lived inside them, enclosing them in the web of social order.  

“Isn’t it beautiful, Random?” Trillian Astra asked, leaning across the small  divide  between the seats to talk to her daughter,  “isn’t it just the most beautiful thing you have ever seen? Open space Random.”

The teenager shook her head, unconvinced. Open space? It looked to her more like an open prison. 

 She looked away from the pretty form of her mother and back out of the porthole window, eyes narrowed in suspicion, trying hard not to allow her feelings to show, despite the fact that they were almost overwhelming her.

A soft sigh  escaped her lips as she leant back in the chair, allowing the memory foam in the back rest to  mold into the  contours of her skinny frame. She closed her eyes, lapsing into  silent contemplation. And yet the image of the inconsieveably massive  black hole that was the scene around her remained. She couldn’t  erase the pictures of those stars, each one  a ball   of celestial  light. She was not fooled.

“Looking forward to meeting your father today?” her mother asked, evidently keen to  keep up some form of conversation.  

Again, Random made no reply. She couldn’t say that she was looking forward to it. She knew that she should have been looking forward to it. It wasn’t every day that you came across your long lost father after  nearly eighteen years of his being only a ghostly shadow   hiding in the depths of your imagination. Any girl would jump at the chance to find a missing piece in the puzzle that was her life, if such a missing piece existed.

But Random knew better. Meeting her father would not put the pieces of her life puzzle back together. There was more than just one piece missing. Over the years, she had come to firmly believe that over half of her life pieces were missing, drifting around in the void just out of reach. Eighteen years of moving around from planet to planet, from solar system to solar system, had slowly chipped away at the solid understanding of her life, leaving only a fragile shell behind. So easily broken.  Not even her mother had been a solid part of her life. She too had drifted in and out of it like the  strangers she had  fleetingly met during her day trips to other worlds. She knew her mother even less than she knew those people. The notion of this nearly  made the tears behind her eyes spill over. Nothing in her life was certain any more. There was not a shred of her life that she could cling to.  

Random  squeezed her eyes shut, thinking about the world where her father lived. What kind of life had he made for himself? What kind of life would she be  expected to lead as his daughter? She wondered whether  he had found a job and a purpose in life. She wondered whether he had managed to find love and whether he had settled down with a family of his own.

 These were things she had still had to find.  Drifting between worlds had  stolen her purpose. She could now  no longer begin to understand  where she fitted within the multitude of whatever society she found  herself in. Random couldn’t think of  what her place within society was. She had no goals, no solid values apart from those she had pieced together herself. The process of her own socialisation had been a complete mess up to now, so much so that she was scared of entering into a situation where an understanding of the world and her place within it was key. How could she begin to navigate that stormy sea? How could She  form an understanding of her own life when so much of it was lying  in tatters at   her feet?  

Her mother spoke again as if she was reading her daughter’s mind. “Don’t worry, Random,” she said in  the soft voice that is always meant to reassure, “I know things haven’t been easy for you so far. But trust me, if you allow yourself the time, you’ll find a home for yourself on Lamuella. You need one. You need a  steady time zone and a home that you can always come back to.”

Random opened her eyes and turned her head to look at  her mother. “I need to find where I fit,” she muttered tonelessly, no trace of the anger that plagued her present in her voice. She sighed again, searching for words that would best  describe the emotions that were slowly eating away at her  self efficacy and self worth.  “I need to find my place in the universe again. I don’t  need a home. I don’t need a father. I just need a role.”

Trillian sighed  heavily. She couldn’t argue with that one. Random was right. She had  no role within the universe as far as she could see. The drive to achieve was gone. So was the happiness and the self belief.  She knew from her own normless years that this could eat away at you until you were just a lost soul wandering aimlessly in the dark. She knew that  this was precisely what her only daughter had become. A lost soul and she berated herself mentally for allowing that to happen, for she must have been instrumental in this? Hadn’t she?

Reaching out a gentle hand, Trillian smoothed her daughter’s hair and  stroked her  forhead, wishing that she could say something to  illeviate the pain that her daughter was feeling. But of course she could not. She could only give advice.

“To find your role in society takes time,” she told her daughter gently, knowing that this would be the final piece of advice that she would ever be able to give, “you need    somewhere to start first before you can do that.  You need to try things. You need to try and find something that connects you with others, because there are loads of things. Perhaps  Lamuella is the  perfect place to start.”

Random nodded, choosing not to reply. Perhaps her mother was right. Maybe she would find her place on  Lamuella, and, failing that, she would  have to go out into the galaxy to find it for herself.


End file.
